Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) OLD MODEL
by Creative Labs
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: Vado vs. Mino, Vado wins by a nose.
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is my third pocket camcorder. My first was an RCA EZ201 Small Wonder 60 Minute model. The price was low and the picture quality was poor, but it was good enough for doing things like taking video of items in my home for insurance purposes, and recording the location of my septic tank on video. After becoming a grandparent, I felt I had a good reason to want a high definition camcorder, and now I own two.
One is the Vado HD featured on this page, and the other is the Flip Mino HD. Here is a quick, rough comparison: The Mino has 4GB of video storage, the Vado has 8GB. Both have a 2X digital zoom. The Mino connects to a USB port via an inflexible arm that comes out of the top of the camera. The Vado arm is flexible and it comes out of the bottom of the camera. The Mino's inflexible USB arm makes me nervous that it will break unless I put something under the camera when it is plugged into my laptop. I have no such fear with the flexible USB arm on the Vado. But the placement of the Vado USB arm is inconvenient for use on a full size (as opposed to a mini size) tripod. It gets in the way, unless it is pulled out and pushed aside when the camera is mounted on the tripod.
Based on my experience, the Mino is better in low light conditions than the Vado. But I prefer the Vado mainly because it uses a user-replaceable rechargeable lithium battery, whereas the Mino has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that is not, technically at least, user-replaceable. I own a Palm PDA that has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that is not designed to be user replaceable. I've owned this PDA for several years and I imagine that if I did what Palm would like users of its PDAs to do, I'd have replaced it by now. But I really have no need to replace it, unless of course I want one that has a fresher battery that doesn't drain faster and faster as time goes on. Given what the Mino HD and the Vado HD cost, I want them to last me for years, even though their manufacturers will of course continue to come out with new, improved models year after year. So for my money, having a pocket camcorder with a user-replaceable rechargeable battery is the way to go. At some point, the Mino's battery is going to begin to behave like my PDA's battery, which is poorly, and there will be no easy or inexpensive way for me to replace the battery, just as there is no easy or cheap way for me to replace the battery for my PDA. But as long as I continue to handle the Vado with care, I'll be able to replace the battery when it needs replacing.
Chris Pirillo (at chris dot pirillo dot com) compares the Mino and the Vado and like me he favors the Vado. CNET's executive editor David Carnoy says "too close to call" about the Vado HD vs. the Mino HD. He finds the Vado falling "slightly short" in video quality, but determines that it has a "stronger feature set" than the Mino.
If I had to get rid of one, I'd get rid of the Mino and I'd keep the Vado, without a second thought. So if you're in the market for a user-friendly pocket camcorder with high definition video quality and plenty of storage, I recommend the Vado.
Customer Review: A GREAT Camcorder at a PERFECT price!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm no techie, I have a more than basic understanding and a far greater ability than my husband but I don't have the time or patience to really get into technology. I just want it to work, work properly, and be one touch easy!
My husband is a drummer who wanted to record his sessions, my kids wanted to post their stupidity on YouTube, I just wanted to share their moments with family and friends across the country. WE LOVE THIS CAMCORDER!!! They aren't lying, one touch use, great picture quality, decent sound quality, and super portability. It fits right in our pocket so no bulky equipment or bag to carry around. It downloads immediately to the computer so no worrying about having memory sticks, discs, or tapes to purchase or worse yet having that moment where you accidentally recorded over something important or have to choose between recording the moment or saving what was already on the tape.
I worried the sound would be less than acceptable but it doesn't sound any different that the old VHS camcorders and I don't have to strain to hear it. The picture quality is great! I don't have HD on my TV or computer so we record in VGA but it takes better quality video than my digital camera and VGA allows 8 hrs of recording so we're good no matter the event! I can only imagine how great the HD would look if the VGA is so good. You do have to have a steady hand and be focused if handing it off while recording because there really isn't any picture stabilization, but we're careful about it when holding it so it's been good and only shaky when we forget or hand it over to someone else while still recording. It fits on the dollar store tripod so we use that when recording drumming sessions.
My husband can barely work the DVD but he picked this up right out of the box and had it working in minutes. I will say the instructions are pointless as it doesn't come with any. We updated the software and started recording. It downloaded immediately but the picture didn't match the sound timing so it took me a few minutes to look up the problem. Easy fix, we had it set to record in HD but since my computer doesn't have HD the feed was slow. We switched to VGA and they matched up instantly....
Everything downloads to my computer or directly to three video sites (YouTube being one of them). I had no problems uploading the video to emails and FaceBook. I really like that we can "capture" still photos from the video as we play it or edit them from within the software. I also like that the usb cord is attached so we don't have to look for one. We rarely use it away from a computer so we haven't had any issues charging the battery but just in case I bought a usb to dc converter so we could charge it on the go.
We paid with shipping and taxes less than $110 so the price was great, I spent half as much as friends and they all want to know where I bought it because the ease of use/portability and the quality of picture and sound is just better than what they bought. I highly recommend it and would happily purchase one for each of the kids! I did a lot of research and my only advise is that don't be fooled by the 2nd generation version. It's $20 more and the only added feature is the black is shiny instead of matte and comes with "mauve" buttons...
Customer Review: Amazing for the price and size!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros:
- 8GB of internal memory to store 2 hours of video on the highest quality setting
- Wide angle lens
- Decent color reproduction
- Comfortable soft rubber feel
- High quality video for the price and size
- Compact and light weight (convenient to take almost anywhere)
- Easy to copy movies to computer (built in USB connector)
- Comes with USB extension cable
- Comes with HDMI cable to play videos on your HDTV directly from the unit
- Easy to chop up the videos using Vado Central (comes free with the unit)
- Microphone picks up audio much better than expected (can here sounds from every direction)
- Extremely simple to use
- Comes with free H.264 video codec, but I prefer ffdshow-tryouts on SourceForge for better performance and customization
Cons:
- Fixed lens with 2X digital zoom only (no optical zoom)
- Does not come with a lanyard
- Optional lanyard is a bit difficult to install
- No expansion slot for an external memory card
- Microphone has a low volume feedback noise in recordings (more noticeable in quiet scenes)
- Battery life states 2 hours, but realistically it's more like 1 hour 40 minutes
- Unit will sometimes freeze when plugging into the computer (must remove battery from unit to get it working again)
- Video playback from unit to HDTV causes audio to slightly distort on high pitch sounds (does not occur when playing back from computer)
- Very bright lights such as the sun will cause skin tones to be slightly yellow
- Free H.264 codec did not work on an older laptop running Windows XP Home, but worked fine on a newer computer running Windows XP Professional
- Tripod connector on unit can easily be broken if tripod is over tightened (due to plastic tripod connector on unit)
Comments:
This camcorder is definitely worth the money. I recommend using the clear skin which comes with it to help prevent it from getting scuffed up. Also, don't forget to upgrade the firmware and install the Vado Central application update on the unit.
I recommend purchasing a small carry case with belt loop, lanyard, composite A/V cable (unit comes with HDMI cable), digtal camera tripod, and spare battery.
If you have the clear skin installed, be sure to push the composite A/V cable in all the way. Otherwise you will receive garbage on the screen.
I only had the unit freeze a few times when plugging into my computer running Linux. This hasn't occur yet when plugging into my system running Windows.
Overall, I am very impressed by this unit.
Customer Review: I Made A Side By Side Comparison ..Vado HD and Flip Mino HD
Summary: 5 Stars
Had I merely purchased the Flip Mino HD, I would have been happy, never knowing what I would have missed by not buying the Creative Vado HD..
For two evenings I had both cameras in hand so that I could see if I could come to a definitive decision as to which of these two very comprable cameras I would prefer.
Yes..everyone has subjective needs...so...
For two groups the Flip Mino HD would seem to be the preferable unit.
If you are a Mac user, it seems that from what I have read from other's experiences, the Flip Mino HD has the more user friendly software.
If you USUALLY use the camera in very very low light situations (by that I mean SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER light levels than you would find in a indoor living room at night lit be a few lamps)..then the Flip Mino HD might be better for you.
If you usually use the camera in outdoor settings and in typical night indoor settings with average light bulb illumination, the Vado HD would be the better choice. Why?
In typical outdoor and indoor situations the Vado HD produces sharper images with notably less noise than the Filp Mino HD does. The difference is notable.
One thing that is surely personal prefernce is that the Flip Mino HD produces slightly warmer images and the Vado HD slightly cooler images.
The differences are NOT major and sometimes very slight.
The other differences in battery changing ability and twice the memory size, twice the video time, larger LCD..are in favor of the Vado HD and are icing on the cake.
I finally tried both the HD+ and HD settings on the Vado HD, and found some (not great)loss in detail when using the HD mode (which gives you 4 hours instead of 2 hours recording time).
I noted that the Flip Mino HD has a 90 day warranty while the Creative Vado HD has a full year warranty with a $29.99 option to extend the warranty to two years.
The wider angle of coverage with the Vado HD vs. the narrower angle of coverage of the Flip Mino HD is significant. Which you prefer is subjective.
If your computer's CPU is not fast enough to process HD+ files, you can use the HD setting on the Vado HD.
If your CPU is not fast enough to process the Flip Mino HD files, you have no option.
See the follwing discussion over at the Flip Mino HD board concerning 'jerkey videos':
http://www.amazon.com/Mino-HD-Jerkey-Video-Playback/forum/Fx3VCBC2ZMADAHJ/Tx1589ELDPDO4SD/1/ref=cm_cd_et_up_redir?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B001HSOFI2&newContentID=MxOJHLKSG5RX9A#Mx1QQT1MPXUDVT
Customer Review: Exceeded My Expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
Received my Vado HD today and I was pleasantly surprised. When the original ship date moved from Monday to Friday I got a little concerned, but apparently there was nothing to worry about. The Vado HD works great. I opened the package and immediately connected it up to my laptop via the USB cable to charge. If you press the Play button, it will go into fast charge mode, which I did. I then went out to dinner and when I returned it was already fully charged and ready to go.
I took a couple of quick 2 minute videos of my son running around and playing and then hooked it back up to my laptop. The software to edit videos is located on the device, so you navigate to it through Windows Explorer and run the executable. The program loads up the videos you have on the device at which point you can watch them or run the stripped down Muvee software to add some music or effects to the video. All very easy and not too many things you can do, but it is quick and easy and can be done on anyone's computer just by plugging up the device. Pretty slick. Or you can just browse to the folder where the videos are stored on the device and run them straight from there with your default viewer (they are saved in .avi format).
I then plugged up the HDMI into one of my free ports on my Panasonic 46 inch plasma and played the videos back through that. Very easy and since I can leave the HDMI cable tucked behind the tv, it makes playing video back for the family a very quick and painless thing to do. My son made me play his videos back quite a few times!!
The quality of the video is actually better than I expected. I have never owned a pocket camcorder before, up to this point I have only used my Sony Handycam using digital 8MM. I was worried that I would not be happy with the quality of the video indoors, but it was perfectly acceptable for what I plan on using it for, which is to record family events. There is no zooming to speak of, but for me that is a good thing. I am always attempting to zoom in and out when I video and the result usually causes people to get sick when they watch one of my recordings!
All in all, I am very pleased with the device. This being the first time owning one of these, I was shocked by the size and weight of this thing. I was expecting it to be small, but man, this thing is tiny and is light as a feather. Not crazy about the milky white cover that you comes with it, but it's better than nothing I suppose. If it annoys me too much I can always take it back off.
Highly Recommended!